When Nick Mingione took over at Kentucky, the Wildcats seemed destined to make the College World Series for the first time in program history. Lexington hosted a regional for the first time ever, resulting in a Super Regional appearance, another program first. But Louisville knocked them out before getting to Omaha, getting swept.
Looking back, Mingione admitted he was naive to how difficult grinding through the NCAA Tournament was as a head coach. Kentucky had a ton of success during his inaugural season and Mingione thought more great opportunities would present themselves.
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“The first year I was hired here, boy was I naive,” Mingione said during Tuesday’s episode of The Paul Finebaum Show. “I get hired, first-time head coach at any level. Never was a high school, tee ball, little league head coach. And Mitch Barnhart basically says he wants me to be his head coach.
“We host our second-ever regional but we make it to our first-ever Super and we were two wins from Omaha. Boy, was I naive. I thought it was easy. Boy, was I fooled.”
Kentucky went on to have some “peaks and valleys” but did not make the NCAA Tournament for another five seasons. At one point, the Wildcats were the worst team in the SEC and not even making it to Hoover.
But Mingione turned things around and in 2023 and Kentucky was finally back in the field. However, it resulted in another Super Regional sweep against them. LSU hosted, won two games, and eventually earned the national championship thanks to a star-studded roster built by Jay Johnson.
Another run cut short before making the College World Series for the Wildcats.
Mingione and Kentucky finally broke through this year though, winning the Lexington Regional and Lexington Super Regional in just five games. His naiveness from eight years ago finally came to fruition after beating Oregon State twice.
Of all the firsts Mingione has had as a head coach, dating back to 2017, this one is certainly the best of them all.
“For me to do it the first time as a head coach, for our program to do it for the first time — it’s just a bunch of firsts,” Mingione said. “This is my sixth time going to the College World Series, four of them were NAIA World Series, but to me, when you have the group of men, it’s all the same. But to do it for the first time in school history is definitely special.”
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